[JURIST] Police in Nepal [JURIST news archive] Friday arrested 87 journalists protesting restrictions placed on the media since King Gyanendra [BBC profile] seized power [JURIST report] in February. Police also arrested 200 other protestors at a pro-democracy demonstration in Kathmandu attended by thousands. Protests have continued [JURIST report] throughout the country since King Gyanendra lifted a state of emergency but left heavy restrictions on the media and retained absolute power. Journalists gathered at a Kathmandu park Friday to protest the restrictions and a previous spate of arrests of journalists, six of whom reportedly remain in detention. The journalists taken into custody Friday were reportedly released [Kantipur Online report] hours after being detained. Gyanendra has maintained that the strict measures are necessary to battle a Maoist rebellion that has troubled the country since 1996 and to fight corruption. Kantipur Online has local coverage of events in Nepal. AP has more.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.